Crate
by Pink Amber
Summary: When Noodle first joins Gorillaz! Oneshot. Please review! No pairings. Rated for language of a certain Bassist...


Disclaimer: I do not own Gorillaz or the Characters. They Belong to Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.

Stu Pot (nicknamed 2D) sat in his bed, trying to read a complicated book with very small font. His room was messy and chaotic. An array of junk laid on the floor; dirty socks, some bottles, a computer, a chair, and various wrappers littered the floor. The walls were covered in posters and portraits of other music artists, as well as seven keyboards. As hard as he tried, he could not focus on the book. The singer/keyboardist kept having thoughts about Paula, the Gorillaz's old guitarist and his previous girlfriend. He still couldn't believe that she cheated on him with Murdoc, the band's bassist. He tried to push the thoughts out of his head so that he could read; however, the font of the book gave him a headache. He put it down on the nightstand without marking his place. He reached over without looking and grabbed a bottle containing pain killers. He poured two out on his palm and swallowed them dry. 2D became bored of staying in his room, so he wandered off to go see what was on TV.

Elsewhere in Kong Studios, the band's self proclaimed leader Murdoc was hunched over his computer screen. He was looking over some new applications for a spot on his band. Most of the responses from the New Musical Express were not promising. The bassist yawned and said "Rubbish", as he deleted another application from the same person, who seemed very desperate to get in the band. The man said could only play one song on the guitar, but he could play "a wicked trombone solo". Murdoc wanted his band to be the best, but so far he was not having much luck. He ran his fingers through his greasy black hair and massaged his temples. He cursed under his breath and signed off of his computer.

Russel was located in the kitchen, reading off of a recipe he found on the internet. He checked the paper again, his solid white eyes scanning the print as he dropped another ingredient into a bubbling pot. His friend and the spirit who possessed him said,

"_Hey Russ, you sure you want to eat that man? Don't take this personally, but you really don't need the extra weight."_

"_Shut up Del,"_ said Russel internally to the ghost. Del had recently taken to nagging Russel about his weight, although he did not mean anything by it.

"_Hey, I said don't take it personally," _said Del. The drummer continued to cook inside the untidy kitchen until he heard the doorbell ring. He waited to see if 2D would get it, but he did not. Russel groaned and got up at the fifth ring. Once he got to the door, he found 2D standing behind him, waiting to see who it was. Russel opened the door to a nervous looking post man standing in front of a large FedEx crate. The man seemed even more frightened when he saw Russel's white eyes and 2D's solid black ones. He clutched his clip board and shifted his eyes back and forth as if he couldn't decide who to be more scared of.

"Can I help you?" Russel asked, since the man seemed petrified with fear. It wasn't everyday that he delivered a package to a "hill top" that was actually a landfill infested with nocturnal zombies.

_"Eh Russ, I think this guy's gonna piss his pants" _said Del, sounding amused.

"Uh, um, yeah, I have a p-package for Murdoc Niccals," the man spluttered. He turned and started to run away.

"Wait! Doesn't he have to sign something?" yelled Russel.

"Uh, no, no, just uh, bye!" He disappeared from sight, and after that they heard tires screech as he drove away.

Murdoc came up to the door, snarling "move, Dullard!" as he shoved 2D out of the door way.

"What I get?" he asked, looking surprised when he saw the large wooden crate.

"I don't know, but the mailman seemed scared of something," said 2D. "Can't imagine what, though."

"Shut up Face Ache," said Murdoc as he approached the package.

"There's no return address." Murdoc tried to open the crate, but it was nailed shut.

"2D, get me a crowbar. NOW!" Murdoc barked. 2D ran into the building and came back a few minutes later, a crowbar in hand. Suddenly, a pounding noise started coming from inside the box. It grew louder and louder, and the men could hear a faint voice coming from the inside.

"What the… someone's in there!" exclaimed 2D, his eyes wide. Everyone just stared at the box.

"What the hell?" Murdoc asked nobody in particular. The top was beginning to lift off from the inside, the nails squeaking as they lifted out of the wood. Soon, the top was almost completely off, and the voice that came from inside was louder.

"The person inside- it's speaking Japanese!" said Russel, looking stunned. This only added to the confusion.

Finally, the lid came off completely and clattered as it hit the floor. Nobody moved. A tiny girl then lifted herself out of the box with surprising strength. She wore a grey sweatshirt, black shorts, and what had to be the smallest pair of combat boots they had ever seen. Her hair was short, straight and black. She looked around, and then stared back at the men, her head cocked to the side like she was thinking. She muttered something unintelligible and reached back into the box; her whole upper body was needed to reach whatever was inside.

"Damn. She's… what, like five and she could open that box but I couldn't?" said Murdoc indignantly. The girl looked up at Murdoc straight in the eyes and said something in Japanese, crossing her arms with attitude.

"She said that she's ten," said Russel, who had been having an internal conference with Del.

"You speak Japanese?" asked 2D, looking even more perplexed.

"A little," replied Russel. He bent down low to talk to the girl in her native language, but his Japanese was slow and choppy compared to her quick jabbering. Finally, Russel stood up.

"She said that she's here about the NME. She said she's here to be the band's new guitarist." He reported.

"No way in Satan's sweet hell is a five year old going to be in my band. Send the kid back; tell them that we don't want to baby-sit some homeless kid with a freakishly strong body! This has to be a joke!" said Murdoc, glaring at the little girl, who just shrugged at continued reaching into her crate.

"Come on Murdoc, give her a chance, we haven't even heard her play yet!" pleaded 2D "Plus it would really be uncomfortable in that box; I don't want to ship her back after all that."

"Do they think I'm some sort of charity or orphanage? Where the hell are the kid's parents anyways?" Murdoc kept on ranting.

2D turned away from the argument to see the girl climb back into the crate to pick up whatever was in there that she needed. However, she seemed to have some trouble maneuvering it out.

"Uh, should someone help her?" he asked to no one in particular.

Finally, the girl pulled out the thing that she had been reaching for from her crate. She dragged out a beat up looking Les Paul Guitar, holding it by the neck as she struggled to get it out of the crate. She put on the shoulder strap with some difficulty, because of her size. Murdoc and Russel did not notice her as they continued arguing over whether the girl should be allowed to be in the band. She looked up at them, knowing that she had lost their attention. She coughed quietly into her hand until they stopped and looked at her.

The girl adjusted the guitar on her small body until it fit as best as it could. When she held the instrument, it looked really awkward and bulky on her little frame. She began to tune her guitar, testing each string. The girl focused on her instrument, twisting the knobs and plucking the according string.

"You gotta be kidding me," whispered Murdoc.

The girl seemed satisfied with the notes that the guitar produced. The men all watched her, waiting for her to begin. She looked up at all of them, smiled, and shocked them all by playing an extremely fast solo. Her fingers moved over the strings so quickly, that even Murdoc's face registered complete amazement. The song was one that the men had never heard, as if she was making it up as she went along. She got really into playing the guitar, scrunching up her eyes, bobbing her head and standing like a miniature rock star. The girl paid no more attention to the three men as she played, as if she was the only one there. She eventually slowed down her pace, the super-fast song wearing down to a beautiful melody. She played slowly for a while, then unexpectedly changed to a high-speed solo, becoming the little rock star again. She ended her already-impressive performance with a high karate kick, as if she was kicking some invisible enemy in the teeth.Then to everyone's amazement (again), she said her first English word: "Noodle!"

All of the men's faces registered complete bewilderment at what they had just witnessed. The girl stood out of breath but motionless in front of them.

"Uh, yeah, what I said about her not going to be in the band...you know I was just kidding right?" said Murdoc. The last thing he wanted was to be told "I told you so".

"Yeah, whatever Muds. So is she in or not?" said Russel.

"Duh, Lards. Of course she's in. She's... pretty good," said Murdoc, who seemed to stuggle finding the right compliment.

Russel translated, and the biggest smile broke across the girl's face. She ran over and hugged Murdoc tightly across the middle. He patted her head uncomfortably, looking awkwardly at the others. She then ran over and hugged 2D, who let out an "oomph!" as she squashed him slightly. He gave her a little hug back. Next, she went for Russel, and hugged him too. She asked what everyone's names were, pointing to 2D and Murdoc. He told her in Japanese, and then asked what her name was. She looked up at him and shrugged. Murdoc, 2D and Russel walked back inside, but the girl stayed. 2D motioned for her to follow, and he gave her a big smile. Russel explained to them that their new guitar prodigy had no name.

"How 'bout Noodle?" asked the blue-haired singer. "Her first English word?"

Russel asked the girl if she wanted "Noodle" to be her name. She cocked her head to the side to ponder the question. She smiled and nodded.

"All right… Noodle, welcome to the band," said Murdoc, speaking directly to her for the time. "Let me show you your room."

**So, I hope you liked it. Reviews are like, so awesome. Thank you and see you soon! Bye-bye.**


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